Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Photos

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Cast & Crew

Megan Fox

April O'Neil

Will Arnett

Vernon Fenwick

Laura Linney

Chief Rebecca Vincent

Stephen Amell

Casey Jones

Noel Fisher

Michelangelo

Jeremy Howard

Donatello

Pete Ploszek

Leonardo

Alan Ritchson

Raphael

Tyler Perry

Baxter Stockman

Brian Tee

Shredder

Stephen Farrelly

Rocksteady

Gary Anthony Williams

Bebop

Brittany Ishibashi

Karai

Dean Winters

Bartender

Brad Garrett

Krang Voice

Tony Shalhoub

Splinter Voice

Dave Green

Director

Josh Appelbaum

Screenwriter

Andre Nemec

Screenwriter

Michael Bay

Producer

Andrew Form

Producer

Brad Fuller

Producer

Galen Walker

Producer

Scott Mednick

Producer

Denis L. Stewart

Executive Producer

Grant Curtis

Executive Producer

Eric Crown

Executive Producer

Napoleon Smith III

Executive Producer

Andre Nemec

Executive Producer

Josh Appelbaum

Executive Producer

Lula Carvalho

Cinematographer

Bob Ducsay

Film Editing

Jim May

Film Editing

Debra Neil-Fisher

Film Editing

Steve Jablonsky

Original Music

Martin Laing

Production Design

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Critic Reviews for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Audience Reviews for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

• Jun 08, 2017

  I went into this a bit in my review for the original 'reboot' movie, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were one of my first loves as a young lad. TMNT, along with the first two Terminator films and the Power Rangers were some of my favorites as I was growing up. TMNT and the Terminator, as far as I remember, came first and the Power Rangers came later. But I digress, I remember seeing the live-action TMNT films. I don't know if I saw all three of them, but I'm certain I saw, at least, the first two. I remember watching the cartoons and I also had some TMNT video games and toys. So, yea, I was a big fan back in the day. Sometimes when this happens, people grow up looking at their favored franchises from their youth with rose colored glasses. Everything about it was great, nostalgia is a hell of a drug. It can make even the worst of movies seem amazing in your mind, even if you haven't revisited them in decades. I can't say that happened to me with TMNT. As I grew up and matured into a man, I didn't really continue my TMNT fandom. I just grew out of it. This is normal, as you get older you start having other interests and I've never really bothered to give the TMNT franchise a look back. I wouldn't mind, but I don't think there would be anything in the way of nostalgia. This brings us to this sequel of a below average 2014 reboot of the TMNT franchise. For one reason or another, someone decided to commission a sequel. I mean the first movie was certainly financially successful, but it wasn't necessarily the greatest story ever told. Plus, in spite of the fact it was financially successful, it's not like the movie made such a great first impression that people would instantly want more of it. Having said all of that, however, I'm genuinely surprised to find out that this was a better movie than the first one. It's not by much, for certain, but it's still a better movie. I would say that this is, really, average at best. I think there's some issues that are shared with the first film. Like I thought the first film attempting to be darker in terms of the turtles and their interactions, while also trying to embrace the absurdity of the concept, wasn't a good look. I can say the same thing about this movie, the relationship between the turtles is way too fucking serious for its own good. Not saying that it doesn't embrace humor between the brothers, but it just doesn't embrace it enough. There's a problem with this approach and that is the fact that the story is a complete Saturday morning cartoon cheesefest. I understand that the film wants to explore issues relating to the brothers and how they've failed to truly unite as a team, even though they did before (but that's irrelevant), but I just don't think it works in this setting of a live-action Saturday morning cartoon. The story is ridiculous and over-the-top. I can't say that it makes a whole lot of sense. Something about Shredder teaming up with this intergalactic being who wants to use this portal to bring through his war machine in order to enslave the earth. Shredder also allies himself with a mad scientist, Dr. Baxter Stockman (played by Tyler Perry), who also wishes to be a part of this world domination plot. Stockman is there for one reason and one reason only. And that is to plant the seeds for an eventual sequel where he comes back and is the main villain, or at least one of them. Not saying that Stockman is useless as a character as, again, he's there setting up future stories, but he's pretty much useless as it relates to the events of this film. He's barely seen and he's disposed of fairly easily. But, all in all, for a Saturday morning cartoon in a live-action setting, this is a fairly decent movie. There's some new additions. I wouldn't say if they're good or not since they take away time from some of the best parts of the original movie, which was Will Arnett. The addition of Stephen Amell, who plays Arrow in, you guessed it, Arrow, is fine. His look is, honestly, a bit bland and generic, but he's a pretty decent actor. The problem with his addition is that Vern Fenwick (Arnett's character) takes a bigger backseat. He was always a secondary character, of course, but he's absent for more than I would have liked, considering that he's the only character that's actually entertaining. Arnett always does good job at playing these types and I just wish he was in the film more. I can't really comment on all the other new additions, since I didn't really feel one way or another about them. They're not good and they're not bad, they're just there. There's a lot of action here and it's not particularly memorable, but there's some fairly solid action scenes. Nothing that will rival The Raid or Mad Max, but solid for a B-tier summer blockbuster, which this is. That might sound derisive, but there's nothing wrong with being a B-tier franchise. Not everything can be on the level of an Avengers or a Wonder Woman. Not to mention the fact that TMNT, while popular, doesn't have as rich a catalog as some of the bigger franchises right now. I think the people making this film realize this and that's why there's a limited potential and reach for this franchise. I can only imagine that a third movie would make half as much as this movie (which made half of the original movie). I'm not saying that the effort wasn't there, but there's only so much you can do with this concept and these characters. It's not like you can tell a variety of different stories like Marvel has been able to do with its cinematic universe. And I think that that's gonna be the undoing of this franchise. Since every movie will be just a variation of the same story, people will just get tired of it, as they seem to already have. With that said, again, while this film is better than the original, it's not like there's anything special or remarkable about it. The acting (and voice acting) is fine enough, but, again, it's not outstanding. This is just your middle-of-the-road, B-tier summer film. You can certainly do worse, but you won't remember much of this movie when you're done with it. Decent, at best, but I wouldn't recommend it.
  

  jesse o Super Reviewer
• Apr 03, 2017

  It's like they hired a bunch of cartoon writers from Nickelodeon for a straight to video animated film for 12 year old boys.... but then decided to spend millions of dollars instead to make it live action? The potential of the TMNT world is wasted on this juvenile experience, it's expensive entertainment targeted at an audience much too young to appreciate the possibilities of film making. It's clear that the entire franchise is for a very limited demographic and will never be a respected piece of entertainment. Shame.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Sep 26, 2016

  The sequel is better than the first. The change with director and an actual storyline that works. The franchise still lacks the charm and quality of the darker film in the 90s, but this is a step in the right direction. The Michael Bay produced film is a typical film for the producer and it is a shame the franchise looks to be dwindling at the box office. The series suffered at the box office and so has the Transformers franchise for the last few films. The studio should cut ties with Michael Bay and not hand him these large fanbase franchises. This was a better film, but it was still quite poor and not the best action film out there. It was nice to see characters from the franchise shown some respect. 28/12/2018.
  

  brendan n Super Reviewer
• Sep 15, 2016

  A wildly uneven script and direction focusing in on bangs and boom do nothing to help. Stephen Amell tries his best with the retconned Casey Jones, but isn't given much to work with. Will Arnett is amusing, as are the turtles, but wow, the plot is on the level of Secret of The Ooze (it even has the "Go Ninja" Vanilla Ice song). This film seems to exist only to sell toys and is nowhere near the dumb fun of the last film.
  

  Super Reviewer